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The Adventures of Gerard - ebook
The Adventures of Gerard - ebook
Love humor writing? Can’t get enough of classic adventure tales? First published in 1902, „The Adventures of Gerard” are the autobiographical reminiscences of an old fictional brigadier soldier who served under Napoleon. He never hesitates to embellish his own bravado, importance, and attractiveness to the ladies, to such an extent that it can’t help but be humorous. Etienne Gerard, a hussar of the French Army, is dashing, flamboyant, and unbelievably full of himself. The book is divided into chapters containing different segments of his life as a soldier under the leadership of Napoleon together with his personal exploits and the romance that swept his way in between. These short stories are historically interesting, the action is cleverly done and exciting, and the hero and his comic comportment are very entertaining.
Kategoria: | Powieść |
Język: | Angielski |
Zabezpieczenie: |
Watermark
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ISBN: | 978-83-8115-469-7 |
Rozmiar pliku: | 2,3 MB |
FRAGMENT KSIĄŻKI
Preface
How Brigadier Gerard Lost His Ear
How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa
How the Brigadier Slew the Fox
How the Brigadier Saved the Army
How the Brigadier Triumphed in England
How the Brigadier Rode to Minsk
How the Brigadier Bore Himself at Waterloo: I. The Story Of The Forest Inn
How the Brigadier Bore Himself at Waterloo: II. The Story Of The Nine Prussian Horsemen
The Last Adventure of the Brigadier
The Marriage Of The BrigadierPREFACE
I hope that some readers may possibly be interested in these little tales of the Napoleonic soldiers to the extent of following them up to the springs from which they flow. The age was rich in military material, some of it the most human and the most picturesque that I have ever read. Setting aside historical works or the biographies of the leaders there is a mass of evidence written by the actual fighting men themselves, which describes their feelings and their experiences, stated always from the point of view of the particular branch of the service to which they belonged. The Cavalry were particularly happy in their writers of memoirs. Thus De Rocca in his “Memoires sur la guerre des Francais en Espagne” has given the narrative of a Hussar, while De Naylies in his “Mémoires sur la guerre d’Espagne” gives the same campaigns from the point of view of the Dragoon. Then we have the “Souvenirs Militaires du Colonel de Gonneville,” which treats a series of wars, including that of Spain, as seen from under the steel-brimmed hair-crested helmet of a Cuirassier. Pre-eminent among all these works, and among all military memoirs, are the famous reminiscences of Marbot, which can be obtained in an English form. Marbot was a Chasseur, so again we obtain the Cavalry point of view. Among other books which help one to an understanding of the Napoleonic soldier I would specially recommend “Les Cahiers du Capitaine Coignet,” which treat the wars from the point of view of the private of the Guards, and “Les Memoires du Sergeant Bourgoyne,” who was a non-commissioned officer in the same corps. The Journal of Sergeant Fricasse and the Recollections of de Fezenac and of de Segur complete the materials from which I have worked in my endeavour to give a true historical and military atmosphere to an imaginary figure.
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. March, 1903.